A very hot Friday

Yesterday was hot - exceedingly and unexpectedly so. The forecast was in the low 30s, although apparently that was revised up by about 9 degrees overnight! It got hot early and the temperature kept climbing. By the middle of the afternoon I didn't feel motivated to do anything, I lay on my bed playing Hungry Babies for a while which was fun and relaxing. I was frustrated though that I felt no motivation - until I went out and got in the car and the thermometer said 39 degrees - it means our house would have been sitting in the low 30s and I do find it hard to do much in those conditions - our house gets very stuffy with all the windows closed and usually on a day that was going to get that hot I'd plan to be out of there by 2 or 3pm at the latest.

As it was we left at 4 and it was much more pleasant in the car. I dropped LiAM off at K's house for a trip to the pool and then an evening playing video games, I dropped Amelie off at E's house for an afternoon of unicorn games, Wii games and a zombie apocalypse game (and a run under the sprinkler), and I took Caitlin to acting. While she was there I got a new screen protector on the iPad (I can stop hassling everyone about being careful with it now), did some grocery shopping and hung out in Ringwood library for a while, borrowing books and DVDs and reading my book for a lovely half an hour. While I was in the shopping centre apparently there was a storm - the ground was wet when I came out and I couldn't figure out why, since it was still hot and sunny, and I found out later there'd been a storm and then it had cleared to become more hot and humid.

After we all got home it was still warm outside but pleasant enough for Amelie and I to go and lie on the trampoline and look for patterns in the stars. She can recognise the Southern Cross now, and the Pointers, and we discussed the difference between planets and stars, and why our sun looks so much brighter than the planets, and why we share our sun with other planets, and how far away various stars might be, and what makes one star brighter than another, and whether the brightest of the pointers might be the Second Star from one of the Tinkerbell movies, and whether it's ok to share your wish when you wish on a shooting star, and whether the moving lights we could see in the sky were aeroplanes or satellites... It was a lot of fun.

Earlier in the day
- my sister came to visit and the kids showed T the chickens (he loved them and kept wanting to go out to see them again) and played lego and cars with him, Caitlin and F played the knock-Buzz-off-the-wall game, F and I had a good chat, and we took T over near the shed to look at the tractor and the grape picker (he was thrilled)
- Amelie and LiAM read the latest Guinness World Records book, which has a special section on gaming records
- Caitlin did some more painting - she drew a Manga style girl and painted her, I was impressed. She wasn't happy with how the mouth turned out - for her first attempt at painting a person it was amazing
- We did some Harry Potter quizzes, including a very tricky 'who said this quote' quiz, which was hard but we got most of them
- I did some more geography quizzes
- Caitlin fixed our little fan that sprays water and was able to help cool everyone down

The forecast for the next week is for every day to be 30 or above, with some high 30s later in the week. Normally I don't mind hot weather (although it is a challenge to keep our house cool enough to hang out it) but the fact that it's now March makes this seem really bizarre and a bit harder to cope with. The leaves on the vines are turning yellow and red - the weather is supposed to be getting cooler, not hotter... We're going up to Yea for a few days next week, I wonder if it will be cooler or hotter up there (could go either way).

A horsey day

A few weeks ago Caitlin made up a flyer asking for unpaid experience with horses, offering to help groom, feed, ride, whatever people needed. She designed and wrote it herself, then went in to the post office and asked if she could put it up, and walked over to the feed store and asked to put it up there as well.

On Friday a lady rang in response to her ad, saying that she had 2 Shetland ponies and was getting older and a bit fragile and so not able to handle them as much as she'd like, so would Caitlin like to come and help her. The answer of course was an extremely excited YES, so yesterday afternoon I took Caitlin over to meet the lady and her ponies.

The ponies are gorgeous, all black, and a little skittish from not being handled much lately. The lady brought them out into the garden, and Caitlin asked lots of well thought out questions about the ponies, as she walked them around on a lead rope for a while, and then started grooming them (she'd taken her own grooming kit). She was able to groom two of them to some extent (one wouldn't let her stand on its right side - but being a small pony, Caitlin was able to lean over and brush at least some of that side, while standing on the left). She picked up their feet (and had problems with one not wanting her to do it - then let it smell the hoof pick and then it was happy to oblige). She went out on the road and brought 2 of them back in after they had escaped down the driveway. The 3rd pony wasn't quite ready for someone new to groom her yet, although Caitlin did manage to rub it's coat a little. She worked with the horses for a bit over an hour, then helped to get them back into the barn (after she mucked it out). The owner was thrilled with Caitlin's competence and the fact that she's found someone to help her. Caitlin loved the ponies and could have stayed there all day - she talked about them all afternoon and evening and is keen to go back as soon as she can. She was very professional and confident and handled the horses easily, and when they were uncooperative she backed off and tried something different - I think they will get used to her quickly and it will become even easier.

It was an exciting experience for everyone involved (and she even earnt $10 - while I got a big bag full of tomatoes from the owner's garden - she can't eat them all and was happy that they won't be going to waste) and it looks like it will be an ongoing relationship which will benefit everybody involved. It's so cool too that it was organised almost entirely by Caitlin herself. The lady was very positive about homeschooled kids too, said that she's noticed that homeschoolers are more interested in learning and learn from everything they experience. And the bonus for her is that Caitlin can come at any time, rather than having to fit it in around the school day. As everyone gets more comfortable too I will be able to drop her off and not need to stay the whole time.

In the morning C had a riding lesson at her friend's house, so it was a very horsey day - there was also a swim in her friend's pool, and a shopping trip with her, so Caitlin came home very tired and very satisfied with her Saturday.

LiAM and I watched another X-Men movie while Caitlin was at her friend's house (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and the afternoon before we'd watched X-Men) which we both enjoyed, and which led to us doing some research on the relationships between everyone in the movies and trying to figure out the timeline (which I know is tricky with the X-Men stories, it doesn't all necessarily follow, but it was fun finding out some of the background information).

Tony had yesterday off work and slept until well into the afternoon - it's great that he has a chance to catch up a little bit after getting so little sleep through the week. He played a bit with the kids when he got up, and then we had Indian takeaway for dinner - butter chicken is everyone's favourite meal. We all sat at the table together to eat - doesn't happen very often and it's quite special when it does. Once we'd eaten we played Chinese Whispers - hilarious as usual.

It was a beautiful evening (had been a gorgeous day, although quite warm standing in the sun with the horses, it had cooled down a lot by dinner time) and we all went outside. Kids played on the trampoline, Tony and I watched, then the kids and I played hide and seek while Tony went to help a friend who had a flat tyre.

Trip to Yea

I woke early yesterday after a restless night of moving between beds (we ended up with too many people in our bed) so I had a bit of time to myself in the morning on the computer. When Amelie woke up she joined me on the couch and we played Hungry Babies for a while, I love playing and she loves watching so it is fun, and we spend a lot of time looking at the pictures of the baby animals too and discussing their names, whether their pictures are accurate, what those type of animals really do in the wild and so on.

I woke LiAM and Caitlin at 10 as we were leaving at 11 to go to my Mum's to see my godmother. We have been in contact on an off, but hadn't seen each other since Caitlin's baptism at the end of 2004, so it's 11 years since we'd properly caught up. And she hadn't met any of my kids, apart from a 3 month old Caitlin (Caitlin is somewhat different now compared to then!).

While we were getting ready LiAM and Amelie played Lego Marvel Superheroes. Caitlin was out of the yoghurt she's been enjoying so I made her some homemade ice cream - frozen bananas, frozen raspberries and cream - a very tasty fruity breakfast. We left just after 11 and stopped for petrol and at the library and were in Yea by 12.10, I'd been aiming for 12 so was pretty happy with that.

Amelie went upstairs to play with the plastic zoo animals, LiAM and Grandad looked at a book of international coins and tried to identify the coins Dad had given LiAM (they found a few of them), Caitlin practiced her Manga drawing and I played the piano. My Godmother, A, and her husband, S, arrived in time for BBQ lunch and it was so great to see them. They chatted lots to the kids and everyone got along well. Caitlin and LiAM helped Mum and I get the table ready for lunch and we ate out on the back deck, with the 'million dollar views' as S kept saying (they hadn't visited Mum and Dad's place in Yea before).

After lunch Caitlin did manga drawings by request, and her style is developing quickly. She drew a girl with her hair in 2 buns then decided to do her hair that way herself, then Mum remembered she had hair chopsticks, and a kimono so Caitlin dressed up and looked fantastic.

We all looked at A's photo book of the Camino she did in Spain last year, and discussed the walk and some spanish words and the idea of pilgrimage etc.

After the guests left Dad and I (and the kids on and off) looked at maps and photos of Tasmania - discussing our previous trips and planning for Mum and Dad's upcoming trip (Dad's 70th birthday present). We also found some photos of seals and penguins in a book of Ken Duncans photos, which thrilled Amelie, and Dad brought up the photos of when we were in Venice, as we'd been talking about when LiAM took his first steps. He's pretty thrilled that he started to walk when he was in Italy. The kids had a swim in the spa and Mum and I sat and watched them and did some Pride and Prejudice quizzes on jetpunk. After her swim Amelie played some music on the keyboard upstairs, and LiAM watched some minecraft videos. Mum and I looked at the clothes she bought to take to Tasmania.

We left around 6 and listened to an audio book on the way home - The Dare Game by Jacqueline Wilson. I love the depth and flaws in her characters and the raw emotion that these kids express. We stopped at the IGA to get milk and a frozen pizza for dinner, then home to watch Australia's Got Talent. Tony came home before it was finished, it was nice to be able to sit and watch a bit of TV with him while we ate, and to catch up on our days before he showered and went to bed. Caitlin watched Farmer Wants a Wife and Amelie went into the bedroom to watch Pokemon, LiAM flitted between the 2. Caitlin then wanted to watch a movie and LiAM wanted to play Lego Marvel Superheroes, then decided he was too tired so went to bed and C stayed up and watched her movie, while the rest of us went to bed.

Dancing and swimming

I woke early to the sound of hot air balloons being inflated - there were 7 of them in the paddock next to our house, it was a particularly spectacular sight. They take off from here often enough that I don't bother waking the kids to see anymore - I've never seen 7 at once though, and there were 4 all in a row with their fabric pushing into each other as they inflated, it was a great wall of colour beyond our little pond.

The kids all had a bit of a sleep in, and when Amelie woke up she didn't really want to get out of bed and wasn't talking much. I was feeling tired and so I jumped back into bed with her and we played Hungry Babies and then Township on the iPad. It was really lovely, snuggling in bed and chatting about the games, working out our strategies, me relaxing my desire to 'just get on with the game' so that she could have fun just exploring and looking at things and talking and thinking about them. LiAM came in and watched for a while then the 2 of them went out to the lounge room to play Minecraft and I had a little nap, which set me up nicely for the rest of the day.

When Caitlin woke up she did some more manga drawing, she's now able to create her own characters rather than copy them, and she's really getting the hang of it. She and Amelie looked through a loom band creatures book and talked about which creatures Caitlin might make.

I'd borrowed a Just Dance game from the library so when the kids found that they cleared the lounge room floor and spent 3 hours dancing and singing. They took it in turns to be the main dancer and the rest of the time joined in as backing dancers or encouraged those who were dancing. LiAM was good at picking which moves gave good feedback so could help Caitlin maximise her points. He also figured out the points structure and how many points were needed to be awarded each star. Once they'd had enough dancing LiAM and Amelie played Lego Marvel Superheroes for a while and everyone had something to eat.

It was a surprisingly hot day after a whole string of milder days, and a few hours of dancing left everyone feeling pretty warm. We went down to the dam for a swim, the water level was much lower than last time we'd swum, and there was a lot of pond grass visible below the water which freaked everyone out a bit. The mud was very slimy too, so it took us a while to get comfortable with being in the water - but it was lovely once we were in, a perfect way to cool off. Amelie came out as far as she could stand up, and swam around a bit, that is by far the most confident she's been in the dam.

We didn't stay long as the sun was blaring down and not everyone had been that keen on going, so a quickish dip was all we needed. Well, it was probably 40 minutes or so, which is quick for us when it comes to swimming. LiAM and Caitlin lay in the mud and covered themselves in it a couple of times, then rinsed off and we headed home. On the way we chatted about the grapes, whether they were ready, why we can't eat them, whether 'the wine making company that Daddy works for will pick them one day' (Amelie), when they might be picked, how they pick them, why it's ok for us to walk on the roads around the vineyard but not between the vines, whether Buckley is safe wandering off through the vines and how he could get away if a tractor was coming.

Once home I cooked some dinner and we watched Australia's Got Talent, then Degrassi, then Heartland. Tony finally came home around 9 and it was great to see him briefly before he and Amelie and I went to bed, while LiAM and Caitlin stayed up for a bit longer and played Lego Marvel Superheroes again.

Homeschool Group and Adventure Park

Thursday morning was a quiet one at home. Our new fruit and veg box arrived and the kids helped m fruit, and I made coleslaw with some of the left overs from the last box - I've never made it before, but Caitlin discovered she liked it at our friend's place last weekend, so I gave it a go. I made my own dressing as well which she didn't like as much, but she still ate it.

The kids watched a bit of TV and Amelie watched some more Pokemon, then after chicken sandwiches for lunch we got ready for Yarra Glen homeschool group. As I was putting the boxes in the car a Hunstman spider ran across one of the boxes - I quite like these spiders, I just don't enjoy being startled by them, so I screamed and dropped the box. It ran down between the driver's seat and the handbrake - Amelie was trying to figure out if she was safer staying right in the back in her seat, or scrambling past a bit closer to the spider and getting out of the car. I grabbed a big wad of paper towel to protect my fingers and attempted to grab one of his long, hairy legs - but he ran away from me and we haven't seen him since! I spent several minutes trying to find him before we all got in the car - and with my face right down looking under the seats LiAM kept saying 'You're going to get a Huntsman right in your face!!!' which he thought would be pretty funny. We named the spider Fred so that he'd be less scary - if he appears we can say 'Oh, there's Fred' - but so far he hasn't appeared. A couple of warm days with the car heating up a lot he is quite probably not alive anymore.

So spider drama over we made our way to homeschool group. There was no one there when we arrived (a little late) but we ended up with 10 or so families - some regulars, some who hadn't been for a while, some newer families, some long term homeschoolers who have never come but whose kids are older and are still interested in the group... Lots of good conversations, and the kids played with the toy library toys and did some craft and played on their iPads and played in the playground. Great to catch up with everyone after the break and to help everyone get back into the social aspect of homeschooling.

We headed home around 5pm and had a quiet evening, watched some tv and got ready for going to the Geelong Adventure Park the next day for Not Back to School Party. We had rice paper rolls with mashed potato and ham and veggies for tea - everyone ate quite a lot, it's handy being able to choose exactly which bits they want (Millie ate all the fillings without the rice paper, the others liked the rice paper and selected just some of the fillings). We got everyone off to bed reasonable early (around 10, which is early for us) and I had all the bags packed and everything organised before I went to bed as well.

So Friday were up very early. Tony is starting work at 6 at the moment so I got out of bed when he did, around 5.15. I woke Caitlin and she had a shower to wake herself up. LiAM got out of bed quite easel, Amelie took a little more convincing. Once she woke up though she was pretty alert, and spent a lot of the morning playing with numbers. For example I said 'We're leaving in 30 minutes' and she said 'Oh, you mean 3 tens of minutes? Or 20 plus 10 minutes' - little comments like that all morning. Everyone ate something and I packed the cold food, and we were in the car and on our way by 6.30am!!! We picked up Liam's friend K and his mum (my friend J) in Kilsyth on the way through, then off to the Adventure Park for the Not Back To School Party - an annual gathering of homeschooler to celebrate the start of the new year. This is the first time we have been though.

We arrived at 9.20, in plenty of time to get our names ticked off and line up for opening time at 10. We found some other friends, some from Yarra Glen group and some of J's friends, as well as other people we know from various places, and lined up with them. Once inside we put our stuff near the water play area, then Caitlin went to find her friends from Yarra Glen group, LiAM headed off with K, and Millie and I got in the water and ran through the water cannon and fountains and showers. LiAM's friends soon went off to float in the tubes in the 'Lazy River' and we saw Caitlin and her friends float by. LiAM, Millie and I went and waited til his friends came back around, and then joined them. Millie and I tried a double tube but couldn't get it to work, and she was happy just bobbing along without a tube for a while, then she discovered she could stand with the tube around her shoulders and bounce along while the water propelled her - I could look ahead and just see a little head bobbing up out of the tube every few seconds, it was pretty cute. I managed to get myself into a tube and float, and we went around 4 times, with Amelie climbing in and out of my tube and her own and swimming a bit, it was a lot of fun. Meanwhile L went on the Aqua Racer - a speed water slide, which he said was pretty scary, but he went on it 4 times in a row (and many more times throughout the day). Amelie and I had a bit more water play then went for a walk, and went on the Carousel (we sat in the swan) and then the little kids cars - Amelie drove and got the hang of it pretty quickly. We headed back to see what LiAM was doing and discovered L and C and all their friends on the swing ride. We watched them for a while and then Amelie wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel - I'd hoped to avoid it but figured she shouldn't have to miss out, so I gave it a go. I was nervous but not terrified - and it was pretty high and got quite windy up the top. I was apparently gripping the centre pole very hard - I thought I was acting pretty calm but she did ask me why I was so scared. She was comfortable with me being a bit scared of heights and it didn't worry her at all (neither the height nor my fear). We went around twice and as long as she didn't move around too much I was ok, and it was quite fun to be able to see so far.

We went back to our bags to have some lunch and reapply sunscreen. LiAM joined us, then he came with us to do some other activities. We did a few more laps on the Lazy River, then went to Mini Golf - lots of fun and LiAM did really well. We didn't have shoes on and the ground was pretty hot by this stage - a bit challenging to find somewhere to stand between holes that didn't burn our feet (well the kids were fine, I found it hard). We went down to the paddle boats but it was too windy for LiAM to go out on his own. I took Amelie out and LiAM went back to get K, the boys came back and had a go as well. It was hard work, although quite enjoyable to be out on the lake.

Back to our seats, more water play, and another couple of laps around the lazy river. Amelie liked to lie on top of me in the one tube, it was quite relaxing. I'd seen Caitlin on and off through the day and she said she'd had some lunch and she was getting to do all the things she wanted to do. LiAM had had several more goes on the Aqua Racer and the big water slides and the Ferris Wheel and Swing Ride. Amelie found an area with water spurting from huge mushrooms, with lots of pictures of dolphins, fish, and star fish on the ground, and a seal as well. She was pretty excited about the seal and we went back there a few times. L, A and I went over to the Archery and L and I had a go - I hit the target with all 3 arrows (one didn't stick) and it reminded me of how much I love archery - will definitely try to get back and do some with the kids soon. L hit the target with one of his arrows and we would have stayed for more except it was getting late and he wanted to go on the go carts. We met Caitlin on the way and she joined him in the go cart line - then we realised he wasn't tall enough and probably wouldn't be let on - seeing as time was tight (the rides were closing at 4.45 and it was now 4.30) it wasn't worth waiting to see if he would be able to ride. Caitlin wanted to race him on the Aqua Racer so they ran back there, and Amelie wanted one more Ferris Wheel ride so she and I headed there. This time were were stopped right at the top while others got on or off - a bit scary, then I noticed C and L at the top of the Aqua Racer and I was able to watch them race down from my high vantage point - pretty cool. We went around twice again, and could see that all the water rides had been turned off by the time we finished. Back to our bags, L went and got changed, the girls and I took our outer swimwear off and put t-shirts and pants/skirts on, and we packed up all our stuff and headed out.

An excellent day - the kids had been looking forward to it since November when we'd first discussed going, and it lived up to all expectations. I saw several homeschoolers who I hadn't seen for a while, and met a few new ones (some who I had met online or read articles by in magazines) - it was a great atmosphere and environment all day.

Everyone except Caitlin (and I) had a nap on the way home, so it was a quiet trip back. The traffic wasn't too bad, a couple of heavy patches on the Ring Road, but moving smoothly most of the way. I dropped K and J off at their place in Healesville around 7.30 - it was great to see them again after J being in England for 3 weeks, and we had a great chat in the car. LiAM was very happy to spend time with K again too. After we'd dropped them off we got fish and chips and burgers for tea and went home to Tony who had also just had a nap. We ate tea and told Tony all about our day, I had a shower and the kids watched tv. We watched Heartland (I was going to go to bed but it was a good episode...) then everyone got ready for bed, we were all exhausted. Tony and I were actually both still awake at the same time and had time to talk about our week before the kids came in and wanted him to rub their backs - we don't get a lot of time to chat during vintage so it was really lovely.

Homeschool Group, swimming, stars

We all slept in a bit yesterday (except Tony who started work at 7). Millie was first awake after me and she curled up on the couch with me and chatted for a while, then played Slugterra on the ABC3 site. When the others got up they watched a little bit of TV then they all kept playing Titan - getting the hang of the battle rules and strategies and I'm amazed at how well they understand the game, it can be quite complicated.

After lunch we went to Yarra Junction library for the homeschool activity there. The girls joined in and made butterflies by scrunching up small pieces of crepe paper and sticking them on butterfly-shaped cardboard. They came up with some gorgeous designs and Amelie took a lot of time to get hers exactly the way she wanted it. LiAM played computer games with his friend, and I chatted to the other 2 mums who were there - so great to catch up with a good friend I haven't seen since before christmas, and the other family as well. Once the activity was over the kids got some books and DVDs together that they wanted to borrow, and then played Minecraft with their friends. LiAM tried to watch some videos after the others had left but the wifi wasn't strong enough and kept dropping out.

The girls really wanted to go for a swim across the road at Yarra Junction Aquatic Centre - Amelie had been asking to there instead of other pools for the last 6 weeks or so. LiAM was tired and didn't want to swim - I try to not insist that anyone does something they really don't want to do, and try to help the others have what they'd like at a different time or something. In this case it felt like a great opportunity to let Amelie have the swim she'd been wanting for so long, and I couldn't tell when we'd be back over this way again. So I did agree to go, and suggested that LiAM play on his iPod or my phone while we were swimming. He wasn't thrilled with this but did agree. Once we got to the pool he decided to go swimming with the girls as long as we didn't stay long, which was fair enough.

Amelie's confidence has increased again, even in the last week (and coming back to a familiar pool possibly helped as well). She walked down a few of the stairs of the middle pool (where she can easily stand, and it's deep enough to swim around in) and then launched herself off into the water. She was swimming a couple of metres at a time, either with her head above or below water, and happily on the ramp in the big pool just at the edge of where she can stand up - she's starting to confidently push her limits - while remaining careful not to go past her limits.

We swam for about an hour, the big kids mainly jumping and diving into the deep end, and occasionally coming back to Amelie and I. On the way home we stopped at several of the hard rubbish piles that have been left out the front of people's houses, and picked up some discarded items that are still in very good condition. Some toys, pillow pets, plush toys, buckets and crockery. LiAM has been looking forward to this time of year for months so he was very happy.

Tony had baseball so he wasn't home until late and we had the evening to ourselves. I cooked some omelettes while we watched Australia's Got Talent (and then Farmer Wants a Wife which was surprisingly compelling...). The girls and I went and put the chickens to bed (our wayward Mummy chicken now takes her chicks into the big shed to sleep, although she sleeps on the top shelf with the other chickens and the chicks sleep on the bottom shelf. We usually move them all into a laying box - partly to keep them used to being handled, which we did with the previous lot of chicks, and they are more tolerant of being touched than the older chickens. So we moved the little ones, patted the middle sized ones then locked them in (while I avoided a very large spider that was sitting on the door near the lock....) and then looked at the stars for a while, the sky was so clear and we could see more stars than we usually notice. We looked at Orion's belt and at Mars and looked for other patterns, such a great night be outside.

Tony came home while we were stargazing, then the girls spent time drawing and writing more letters to each other to put in the letter box (Millie drew a 3 headed hydra and a crab, so cool). I went to the bed and the kids played Pacman and headed off to bed shortly after.

Lots of friends and water

It's raining this morning!!! It feels so lovely and refreshing and I feel a great sense of relief. For the last 48 hours the forecast has been for a very high probability of rain - and it has rained lots in some areas of Victoria (and around Melbourne even), but we kept missing out. I've been watching the radar and the rain has moved just to the north or south of us, or died out before it got this far east - it's been so frustrating, and the humidity has been building... So it's wonderful to finally wake up to steady rainy this morning.

On Wednesday morning we still had the kids over from the sleepover the night before. The boys crashed in the early morning after staying up so late, and slept for a few hours each. The girls were surprisingly happy and active. They played the Harry Potter Scene It game for a while, and went for a bike ride next door to pick blackberries, came back and filled up the paddling pool with water to cool off, played on their iPads for a while, and were fading by about lunch time. I took them home on our way to meet up with some other homeschooling families at Lillydale Lake. (We called in to the op shop on the way through and found some more My Little Ponies for Millie, she was very happy).

We got to the playground and I couldn't believe how hot it was! Very oppressive heat and not really fun for playing in the sun. We set up a picnic blanket in some shade and for most of the afternoon the kids (mine and the others) lay on the rugs and only occasionally ventured out into the playground. One family had brought their dog along so she provided a bit of entertainment. I had a good chat to the other mums and one dad. Most of those who were there have only been homeschooling for a short while so it was good to chat about how things tend to progress. As most of the others were leaving our good friends the Hs arrived, and after a while we and one other family moved down to the lake where the kids could swim and cool off. The parents stood in water about shin deep, and the kids played for ages, the big kids as far out in the lake as they were comfortable, the smaller ones in and out a bit and playing in the sand as well. It was such an improvement to sitting in the shade and feeling exhausted!

We headed home when the storm clouds threatened. I was thinking my washing would get wet so I grabbed it off the line straightaway but we didn't get more than a few drops. Tony worked a few extra hours at work then raced in for a quick shower and a bite to eat before heading off to darts - he hasn't played competition darts in over 10 years so was excited to be getting back into it. LiAM and Caitlin fell asleep early so Millie and I played games and then made a tiger mask of paper plates and pipe cleaners.

On Thursday LiAM woke early and came on my walk with me. Instead of going around the dam we went down to the water's edge and looked at the plants growing there and the types of animal footprints we could see. We came back and he played his monster game on the iPod . When Millie woke up she played on the computer for a while, then they watched some tv. It was still hot and muggy and no one felt like doing much. We popped into town at one point to return library books (but the library wasn't open) and to get Millie some chocolate milk which she'd been craving all week.

In the afternoon our friends from Sydney arrived in their bus to spend the night at our house.  The girls went blackberry picking and then spent the afternoon dressing up and playing role playing games. The boys played Halo on the xbox and after an initial discussion about who was going to play first, quickly figured out a way for the 3 of them to happily play with 2 controllers. I had a wonderful chat with L. Once the sun had gone behind the clouds the girls and L and I went down to the dam for a swim. It was so lovely to be in the water. I didn't stay in long, L and I sat on the shore and watched the girls play and swim and cover themselves in mud, it was a lot of fun. Back at the house the girls set up a graduation ceremony for Caitlin and Millie - they made outfits and hats and certificates. There was also a wedding, and then lots of craft, the girls made some really pretty and creative creatures.

We managed to convince everyone to go to bed around 11.30 - they were all exhausted and so were we! It's so great how easily our 2 families fit together, we only see each other a couple of times a year but it's as if no time has passed when we get back together.

Pool, movie, party

We've had a busy couple of days. On Monday Tony had to work (he originally had the day off, but was asked to work as there was a lot to be done before the grapes start coming in later this week or next week). The kids played the Lego Movie Game in the morning, while I got ready to go out, sorting some clothes to give to my sister and a friend of hers, and a box of old CDs, tapes, videos and discs which can be recycled at a place in Clifton Hill. Millie made up a song and danced to it on the trampoline for me, a beautiful performance about flowers. Caitlin helped me cook pancakes for everyone's lunch before we left.

Around midday we went in to Yarra Glen, dropped some stuff off at the op shop and then went to the library - but the hours have changed so we weren't there at the right time and couldn't return our books/pick up our holds. From there we drove to Fitzroy pool - the kids have asked to go there several times, whenever we drive past it on Alexandra Parade, and so it seemed a perfect place to meet up with my sister today, as she lives not far from there. It was a fair bit cooler than the days we've been swimming lately - in the low 20s rather than the high 30s - but the water was heated and was quite pleasant once we were in. The breeze that was blowing made us all feel pretty cold when we were out of the water, so we stayed under as much as we could and it was beautiful.

The kids and I played in the big pool until F and T arrived - Millie doing lots of underwater swimming, her confidence and skills are increasing every time we go to the pool. T came in the water with Caitlin but found it too cold and wasn't very happy, so we all moved over to the very large, rather warm wading pool. T was in and out, running around the little park next to the pool, and LiAM and Caitlin kept an eye on him. F and I were able to have a good chat while we lay in the pool, and Millie climbed on me and chased me and swam happily around us. L and C went back to the big pool for a while, then returned to us for a bit more floating around, then we all went back into the big pool. Millie went deeper than she'd been before and even tried treading water for a couple of seconds - and then she was tired and hungry and we were all ready to get out.

We drove back and met Tony at Yering - we'd swapped cars because the engine light in my car had been coming on, and I didn't want to drive all the way to Fitzroy in it. He was going to baseball in the evening, and I was going to the Bayswater Outdoor Cinemas, and taking some extra kids, so I needed my car back. The engine light had been on while Tony was driving it - and didn't come on again once I switched back into it. Odd.

We went home, had some tea and a shower and got food and blankets and pillows organised, then headed out again to pick up S and V, and then on to the Outdoor Cinema. We found a spot to park fairly close to the ground, and were able to find a place for our blanket at the back of the area for blankets (in front of all the chairs) and not directly in front of a speaker (which would have been too loud for Millie). The big kids ran around the oval while Millie had a jump on the Frozen jumping castle, then we settled down on our blanket to watch 'Hotel Transylvania 2'. I had only seen bits and pieces of the first (the kids have seen it) and I wasn't expecting much, especially when I saw that Adam Sandler was in it - and I was very pleasantly surprised. I loved it, and found it extremely funny. I laughed, loud, often. The kids all enjoyed it as well. Afterwards they ran around the oval playing tiggy in the dark (it wasn't completely dark, there were spotlights on) and enjoyed that as much as they did the movie. I took the others home, had a bit of a chat to R when I dropped them off, and eventually made it home after 11pm. It took a while to get everyone settled so it was a very late night for me.

Yesterday morning I was still up early as usual, and the others had a bit of a sleep in. Mum and Dad came down and I went for a walk down to the creek with them. Once we got back the others were all awake and playing Toy Story 3 on the playstation.

In the afternoon we all went to a housewarming party at the house of some of Tony's baseball friends. It was a lovely afternoon. LiAM played cricket and jumped on the trampoline with some of the other boys, Millie jumped for a while and then watched a movie, Caitlin jumped, watched some of the movie, chatted to the adults, practiced her cartwheels and bridges. I had some good chats with people and Tony really enjoyed seeing his friends. We got home around 7pm, and S and V came over after that for a sleepover. R and I sat outside chatting until it was dark, then she went home. The boys were playing The Lego Movie game again, and the big girls did some work in making Caitlin's room more private, and then spent time in there chatting. Eventually I took Millie to bed and the other 4 stayed up playing minecraft, Lego Movie and watching movies.

Chickens

Sunday was a much quieter day compared to our busy Sunday. For the most part we stayed at home. LiAM was feeling quite worn out from being at the rodeo (and he did 20000 steps on Saturday, so figured he could sit still all day on Sunday and still have 10000 steps per day for the weekend) and watched a fair bit of tv and played Plants v Zombies and Lego Harry Potter. He and Millie also played Minecraft for a while.

3 new chicks were hatched early in the morning, 2 black and 1 yellow (we have SO many black chickens now). They were still in a laying box in the main pen, so we needed to move them to the chick pen. I put on long sleeves and gloves as Darkness, the mother, is quite vicious when she has chicks (actually she's vicious most of the time, just more so (understandably) when she has chicks. We had another hen (Snowy) have chicks in December and although she's very protective, and a very big hen, she's way less scary than Darkness). I grabbed Darkness out of her box and Millie carried the chicks one at a time to the new pen and I popped the mum in with them. It all went pretty smoothly (although one chick fell under the hay in the new box and couldn't get out, so I braved Darkness again and went in and rescued it, and rearranged the hay a little so that it was unlikely to happen again. Later in the day I went to check on them and one of the chicks had become stuck under the bottom bar of the pen. Trying to rescue her I got a sharp bite from Darkness - but I got the chick out and she looks ok.

Apart from chick wrangling I spent most of the day pottering around and catching up a bit on my general tidying. In the afternoon Tony took Caitlin to meet a friend at Healesville pool, and Millie went next door to see our neighbour. LiAM and I stayed home and watched some Green Lantern and a couple of other shows.  Caitlin's friend came home with her for tea, and then it was organised for her to stay overnight. The girls played Lego Harry Potter with LiAM, jumped on the trampoline, went for a bike ride, played on the iPad, chatted lots and had a fun evening.

When they put the chickens to bed they discovered that Snowy and her batch of chicks were not in the main pen - I'd hoped that when she couldn't get into the chick pen (because Darkness was shut in there) she'd take her brood into the main pen. We lost 2 chickens probably to foxes earlier this week when they didn't get shut away, so I really didn't want to leave a hen and 5 little chicks out. I searched for ages and eventually found them all tucked in between our brick pile and the shed, she was quite well hidden. I had all the kids help me - once again I grabbed the (shrieking) mother and the kids grabbed the 5 chicks and we safely moved them all into the main pen.

After all the chicken excitement we all got ready for bed (it was quite late by now anyway) and wandered off one or 2 at a time.

Catching Up

I had decided I wasn't going to blog until I was caught up with my emails - which doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon, and I've been missing blogging. So now I'll try to write as often as I can, and sort out my emails afterwards, without the pressure of feeling like I 'have to' get them done so that I can write.

Actually I tend to get much more done in general if I do the things I want to do first, then I'm in a relaxed state and can happily do the less enjoyable things too. If I try the 'work hard first, have the reward at the end' I can feel slightly grumpy through the whole thing, and often don't bother finishing and just skip the 'reward' part. The kids are all the same, to a greater or lesser extent, although they've never had pressure to do things the other way, so they can easily say no if someone is trying to convince them to do something by offering a reward at the end of it, and they automatically do the things they enjoy, and are happy to do the harder things if someone asks them too, when they are ready, they don't need anything at the end to motivate them. I'm hoping I can continue to remember this about myself as well, instead of slipping back into the more culturally expected method of operating.

So a bit of a summary of the past 6 weeks or so
- Caitlin finished her performance season and had another enjoyable night of acting. I saw this performance and was impressed with how her class performed a very powerful and important scene within the play, despite being one of the youngest groups.
- Caitlin has been to sleepovers at a few friend's houses, which also included going to a nail salon, helping feed sheep, going swimming, going shopping, going to the movies
- We all went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens the day after it was released - Caitlin with her friends at a birthday party, and the rest of us at the same time in a different movie theatre (the new one at Eastland which has reclining seats and is SO comfortable). And we all LOVED it!
- Tony and the kids went to see it again, with his sister, just before New Years
- We had 3 nights in Queenscliff with my family, lots of fun at the beach and hanging around the house, you can read more at travellingandexploringourworld.blogspot.com.au
- Christmas was really lovely, we spent the morning here at home, playing with what Santa bought, and opening our presents to each other, then we went up to Mum's for the rest of the day, had a lovely christmas lunch then another round of presents, then relaxed and played with presents, hung out in the spa and so on
- Tony and the girls stayed overnight at Mum's on Christmas night for more of the same. LiAM and I came home, on Boxing Day I did a bit of housework and we both had a quiet morning, then headed back up to Yea in the afternoon for another enjoyable evening of leftover Christmas food and playing with T and all our presents, then we all came home that night
- I had 3 nights in Sydney between christmas and new year, catching up with a couple of friends and with my brother in his new house
- We had my dad's 70th last weekend, a fun and relaxed afternoon party at his house, very well organised by Mum
- We've been to the Healesville Outdoor pool several times on hot days - sometimes we arrange to meet friends there, other times we just go alone, and we always find lots of people we know to play and swim with
- Caitlin and I went to see The Dressmaker (which I loved completely), and LiAM and I went to see The Hunger Games, Mockingjay Part 2
- We've watched lots of movies at home
- We've played lots of board games
- I'm working on cleaning out the last part of Caitlin's new room - she's sleeping in there but her desk is covered in all my sewing stuff so hoping to get that organised over the next few days so the space is all hers
- We've had friends come over and been to visit friends and played lots of games, inside and out
- LiAM and Millie have played a lot of Skylanders - Super Chargers, which they got for christmas
- Everyone has played a lot of Crossy Road (except for me - I played for the 1st time yesterday, so I have at least now played it. Not sure if I will get right into it like the others, I found it quite stressful)
- LiAM has been playing a lot of soccer in the back yard, with anyone who will play with him. The girls have been playing a bit, and Tony and I as well, and whichever friends come over
- We've been swimming in the dam a couple of times
- Caitlin has been horse riding at a friend's house

And lots lots more!

Mid year break

We've just had 2 weeks of school holidays, and while we don't take a holiday from our learning, the holidays do give us a break from a lot of our regular routine, and also give us a chance to catch up with some of the kids' schooled friends.

Caitlin went on a 5 night horse camp at Ponyland in the first week of the break. She's been a couple of times before on a 2 night/3 day camp, and had been keen to try out the longer format. She had a wonderful time and was so glad she'd been able to stay for the full camp, rather than leaving halfway through like last time. She rode lots of different horses, trotted and cantered and walked and learned how to jump and rode bareback, and groomed the horses, mucked out stables, did lots of theory about horses, helped feed them, and played lots of games with the other girls. We rang her each night and she appreciated that contact from home, but wasn't homesick while she was there.

While she was gone the rest of us had a fairly quiet week. We played with friends a couple of days, including Millie and me taking a trip to Alexandra to play with one of Millie's friends who has recently moved up there (LiAM went to another friend's house for the afternoon). Millie and I had a great time, and the other mum and I were really able to have a great chat while the girls played.

At the end of the week we picked Caitlin up and went to Healesville to see a play - The Very Cranky Bear, based on one of Millie's favourite books. She and Caitlin sat down on the floor in the very front row which they both loved. LiAM preferred to be less involved in the production and the crowd, so he and I sat up in the back row and he was able to enjoy the play safely from there.

We had several days hanging out quietly at home, watching movies, crocheting - I made Millie some mittens!!! - playing on the iPad, playing on the trampoline, looking after the dog and cat and chickens etc. Everyone has had a big surge in their reading interest and ability over the past couple of weeks too - LiAM now regularly reads words in ads on the tv, and Millie is asking more and more questions about words and letters. Caitlin is easily reading a chapter or more each night of her book in bed.

We went to Ivanhoe Pool with another homeschooling family - being school holidays they had a bit inflatable bouncy cushion up in the pool, which all the kids went on over and over. I tried it once - it was fun, but made me dizzy (bouncing and floating was a bit much for my head) so didn't go back - glad I did have one go though. Millie is now swimming small distances underwater without any help, she's improving quickly and calmly and naturally and it's very exciting to watch.

We played an epic game of Monopoly which is still not quite finished. LiAM took the strategy of only buying Park Lane and Mayfair and quickly getting hotels on them - worked pretty well although I managed to get hotels on a couple of other sets so we became fairly evenly matched. It was great watching the kids work on their mathematical concepts while they dealt with the money.

I had a minor medical procedure done on Thursday which will hopefully help with the gynaecological problems I've been having. The kids stayed overnight at a friend's place the night before, and Tony took Friday off work, and I've been looked after quite nicely while I've recovered. It's been lovely being able to sit and read or play games or use the computer and just get my strength back - I've been very very tired, I think being able to stop has given me the chance to really stop and rest and catch up after being exhausted for most of the year.

Another busy week

One of the extra exciting things about seeing Cinderella at the movies on Monday was the 20 minute Frozen Fever film that showed beforehand. It was incredibly exciting to go back into the world of Frozen, and see all the characters again having a new little adventure.

It was a pretty big day all up. Before the movie we went and bought Caitlin's karate outfit - she's been training all of term 1 in casual clothes, so this was long anticipated. After the movie LiAM had a go at the claw machine to see if he could win a prize - and he snagged a plush Oh (from the movie Home). It was incredibly exciting. He and Caitlin had another turn each and got lollies this time, but the Oh doll is very much prized and loved. We with to the Pancake Factory and shared a Chocolate Chip Pancake which was delicious! From there we went to Costco and stocked up on some things we were low on, and bought some delicious gelato, and some lollies and chips in bulk - good to get the shopping done, although quite exhausting. By the time we got home everyone was quite knackered.

Tuesday we spent at home and for most of the morning we were all a bit cranky and restless - it happens when we haven't had enough quiet home time lately. We picked up in the afternoon though, it felt a lot calmer. Millie and I had a lot of fun playing with the bicarb and vinegar and food colouring again, and found new ways to make explosive painting work effectively (one of the things I did was to drip food colouring directly onto paper, then cover it in bicarb, then drip vinegar onto it (I'd found a dropper which meant we could control the amount of vinegar we were using). It was a very cool effect, with the bicarb bubbling and then the colour spreading through it.)]

Wednesday we had a quite morning at home then went to Yarra Junction pool in the afternoon, we hadn't been swimming for a while and we all enjoyed it. For most of the time we were there we had the centre to ourselves! We went to Yarra Glen library after the pool and hung out there and at the park, joined by S & V who were coming for a sleepover, until the big girls had Guides at 6. This was their first night in the senior guides, which was quiet exciting. We dropped them off and the other kids and I went home for an hour or so, then back to pick them up. They really loved it. Once home again the kids played Minecraft and went and lay on the trampoline with blankets and chatted and looked at the sky, then watched Dance Academy till they fell asleep.

Thursday the kids played more minecraft, and with kinetic sand, and went to visit our neighbour. We went to homeschool group in the afternoon, where we made Anzac Biscuits. It was a fun group, a few  families who've only come a few times were there, as well as lots of regulars, and it worked really well. Exciting to see the group growing and people starting to come more often. The kids also played Minecraft and Terraria and Lego and with some of the other toy library toys, and rode scooters and ripstiks etc in the park and played on the playground. Once most people had left the kids were hanging out in the library or at the skate park, and we were waiting at the park for karate to start - the kids decided not to come to karate so they went up to R's house with her kids, and I went to karate alone - it was my last training session before my grading, so I really wanted to go and practise, and it was fun and useful, I cleared up a lot of questions I had about the moves and practised effectively and felt much more prepared (although still incredibly nervous!)

Birthday parties and days at home

I definitely think this year is going to be easier than last year - I seem to have a better handle on an active/resting balance, and we're not rushing around much at all. I also think I'll be better at saying no when new opportunities come up, if those opportunities are going to have a high energy cost. Or saying yes, while reorganising some other things so that we can do the new thing and not be worn out by still trying to do everything else.

Last week we seemed to find a good balance of being out and being at home. Monday I had an appointment in Healesville, so we met some friends at the library and the kids played with them while I did my thing, then we all went to Queens Park, rode scooters and Ripstik and had a paddle in the creek. Once our friends left we called in to Healesville Pool - I didn't feel up to swimming so I put Millie's backpack on her and the 3 kids had a fun swim while I watched. I had felt too tired to go but by not swimming myself it was actually quite manageable, and we managed grocery shopping afterwards without any stress.

Tuesday we spent at home, watching movies, playing Minecraft, playing lego, playing the piano, playing snakes and ladders and ludo and chinese checkers (by the usual rules and by Millie's made up on the go rules - both were really fun). It was an unexpected day at home, we did originally have plans to visit a friend, which didn't work out, and I'm glad in the end that we had the down time.

Wednesday was my nephew's 1st birthday. We went to Lilydale to buy his birthday present (a helmet to wear when he uses the Balance Bike his parents gave him, and a book each from the kids) and to get pokemon card starter kits for my kids - they had saved up half the money each and I happily provided the other half so that they each got a kit and their games can be more meaningful. Then into my sister's place to hang out for a bit and give T his presents, had birthday cake, then we all (including Mum and Dad) went to a Greek restaurant for dinner. I've been meaning to show F how to wrap T on her back, so I put him on my back for the walk to the restaurant (I love having a baby on my back, and he was quite happy as long as he could see his mummy) and she wore him home. The meal was delicious and it was great having some family time all together (minus Tony though cos he was at work). Back to F's where we chatted and the kids played Pokemon and then home once T went to bed.

Thursday we had Homeschool Group in Yarra Glen. Quite a few families there again, and we did water activities on a hot sunny day. We transferred water between 2 glasses using nothing but paper towel, and then experimented with how it was different if we put food dye in the water (it seemed to go at slightly different speeds). We filled glasses with water and put cardboard on top and flipped them over - and the cardboard stayed on! And we made the water life cycle in a bag - coloured water in ziplock bags which then got taped to a window and you can see evaporation, condensation and precipitation. The kids also played board games, did some craft, rode scooters, played on the swings, played on their iPads and chatted a lot. (The parents chatted a lot too). My kids and I had chicken bread rolls in the park for dinner, then went to karate. Millie wasn't keen to go this week then changed her mind at the last minute, and joined in for a few minutes. I was going to sit out with her but a friend stayed to watch so I was able to participate which was great because I enjoy it so much.

Friday we had a very restful day at home, playing iPad games and watching movies, then we took Caitlin to her first acting class of the year. We dropped her off, where she was very excited to see all her friends again, then the other 2 and I went to Croydon to get dim sims, spring rolls, yoghurt and M&Ms for dinner. We did a little bit of shopping - including at The Full Pantry, my favourite whole foods shop, which was unexpectedly still open so I was able to stock up on things I'd run out of - then went to Croydon library. We finished our food in the park out the front, then spent an hour and a half in the library, watching youtube videos, reading, playing on the computer, borrowing books etc. Picked Caitlin up - she had a wonderful time and enjoyed being in the Intermediate Training group this year instead of Juniors - and home to read some more of Eragon and eventually go to sleep.

Saturday I had a doctor's appointment and a friend came over to be with the kids while I went - she and her kids stayed all day and it was lovely, we hadn't had much time to chat lately and it was great to really catch up, and the kids all played well all day - Terraria, Minecraft, Lego, on the swings, Pokemon, with soft toys etc. Tony actually was home before dark - the first time in 2 weeks, it was a very pleasant surprise to have him around for some of the evening.

Sunday we had a birthday party to go to and for various reasons I hadn't bought presents or organised costumes for the Minecraft theme yet - so we went to Lilydale (Tony had a day off for the first time in 2 weeks and Millie stayed home with him) and got LiAM a Diamond Sword (made of foam) and light blue top/dark blue pants so that he could be Steve from Minecraft. Caitlin bought cat's ears and tail so she could be an ocelot, and we got a dragon costume for Millie. Home and then quickly into costume - Millie was way too hot in her costume on a 36 degree day (I thought she would be, but felt much happier in providing her the costume and letting her make the choice rather than making it for her) so she changed into a skirt with flowers on it and decided she could be a Minecraft Rose. The party was at Hedge End Maze and theire were lots of organised, Minecraft themed, activities for the kids to do, and a great Minecraft cake (made by the birthday boy's dad) and despite the heat everyone had a great time. After the party we stayed at the venue for a while and did some of the mazes and puzzles ourselves, then headed home for a very quiet evening

A weekend at home

We've had a few quiet days at home over the weekend and Friday, and it's been lovely. Interesting though how different those days can feel, even though they might look the same on the surface (just hanging out at home playing and reading and talking).

Friday felt like the perfect home day to me. There was nowhere else I'd rather be and nothing that I'd rather be doing than whatever I was doing at any given time. Really being able to go with what the kids and I want to do makes a massive difference to how I feel about my day - when I get caught up in (my) anxiety about whether we 'should' be doing something or not, it impacts greatly on how happy and content I feel about the day (Saturday was more like that).

On Friday I was up early and went for a walk, watered my plants etc. Tony has been starting work at 7, so it's easy for me to get up at 6 when his alarm goes off, rather than waking myself and lying there for a while wondering if I should try to get more sleep or get up and get going. I had a bit of time to myself in the morning, then the kids got up and we were all in a good mood. We played lego - the kids built and played games with their creations, I played a bit and spent a lot of time sorting the lego table (everything had become all mixed up, and we'd been storing other things on the table as well - that's all cleared now). We watched movies - Barbie as the Island Princess, and Mumma Mia (I hadn't seen it before and realised I knew NOTHING about it other than the fact that it contained ABBA songs. I quite enjoyed it, although I think it would be much better as a stage show than a movie). We played Minecraft and Terraria - individually and together throughout the day. We played other iPad games, again sometimes as a group, sometimes alone. We read books - I'm reading Eragon to LiAM, and the girls listen when they feel like it. I read other library books as well. I tidied things up in between playing with the kids, we had lots of great conversations, everything went smoothly. In the evening we were planning to go and see the Penguins of Madagascar at Bayswater Outdoor Cinema, but there was a thunderstorm so the event was cancelled. We were all disappointed, although I was happy to stay home. I suggested we invite our friends over who we were planning to meet there - they also mainly felt like staying home, except for Caitlin's friend S, who came for a sleepover. The girls chatted and played on the swings and played Terraria and watched Mumma Mia again, LiAM joined them for a while. They went to bed after I did, but I don't think they stayed up as late as they sometimes do.

A lot of rain came with the thunderstorm on Friday night (yay, rain! We have had very little this summer) and it was still raining on Saturday morning. Caitlin had wanted to take her friend to meet our neighbour, E - she lives next door by herself and loves having the kids come to visit. They can easily walk or ride there through the front of our property. The rain made this trip more difficult, and S was going home early as she had things on that day, so Caitlin started the day feeling a bit disappointed. I was feeling anxious as well, not about anything in particular, just a general all round anxiety, so even though we did many of the same things we'd done the day before, it didn't run as smoothly. I think I was trying too hard to make things better for Caitlin because she was disappointed, but also wanted to have an easy day, and it got a bit tense. It was still a pretty good day though. We played and sorted more lego, played Minecraft, played cards (Go Fish, and Up and Down the River), Millie watched more Barbie movies on the computer. LiAM played Pacman 2 on the Playstation.  The kids went next door to see E after it stopped raining, and they decided to write letters to her grandkids who live in America. They came home and wrote the letters and Caitlin rode back over to drop them off, and fell off her bike on the way back. She has a sore wrist and ankle and hip but no bad injuries. Tony came home late in the evening from work and watched the cricket, while Caitlin and LiAM and I took one of our broody chickens (and her eggs and nesting box) to a friend's house, as they would like more chickens and we have quite a few at the moment!

Yesterday was calmer again. I was able to say yes more easily to things the kids asked me to do (playing games, food they'd like me to prepare for them etc) - when I'm anxious I find it harder to say yes, even if I'm happy to do it. I am just more distracted and can't concentrate as easily - so I'm hoping to work on that, staying focussed on our home life when I'm anxious, instead of resenting the fact that I can't hide away in a corner somewhere which is what I feel like doing. I also find it helps to do lots of nurturing things like reading a book, playing on the iPad, sorting my photos - really doing what I WANT to be doing instead of running around doing housework when I'm anxious - and from there it's also much easier to say YES when the kids want me to do something with them. So yesterday, Tony was at work again (these 7 day work weeks are tough!), and we stayed home and watching movies (Island Princess again), played horses, read Batman comics, read Eragon, played on the iPad - lots of Township yesterday, me playing with the kids watching, read other library books, a bit of lego, the kids visited E again. Oh and we buried one of our little chicks who died yesterday - that was sad for all of us, one of the aspects of having animals that is less enjoyable, but also a useful way to increase understanding about life and death and impermanence and so on.

It was a hot day and we planned to go to the dam for a swim, but with no shade down there I prefer to leave it until the sun is low in the sky. We wanted to pull our camper trailer out to see if any rain had gotten through the cover (it's been damp after rain before) so Caitlin and I had a go at it while Tony was at work. It was hard going with just the 2 of us, and it was SO hot in the tent and I got a bit flustered a couple of times (and even a bit panicky when it kind of collapsed on me while I was in there) but we got it up properly - great to know we can do it without Tony, so I know I can take the kids away by myself if we want to go away during Vintage. After that we had a good rest, watched Phineas and Ferb for a while, then went to the dam for a lovely swim as the sun was setting. The water was a beautiful temperature (mainly) and Tony came home from work and joined us for a while. Back home once it was dark, for showers and getting ready for bed. The kids downloaded a new game onto the computer and played it for a while. I found a frog on the driveway when I took the bin out so we all went back out and looked at it for a while, and it surprised us by jumping quite a distance every time we stopped shining the torch on it. Then to bed, where I read more Batman comics (I'm enjoying them too, especially the chapters with Green Arrow - he's funny, and I love his relationship with Batman) and more of Eragon. I went back outside after that to find the cat who'd been out all day, I eventually enticed her in (well actually I pounced on her and carried her in by the scruff of her neck) and finally got to bed just before midnight.

Movie, chickens and swimming

I've been waking up earlyish again lately - between 6 and 7 usually - and I've been going outside and watering my plants, then going for my walk. I hadn't been walking much over the past couple of months and it's wonderful to be doing it again. Going that early too I often get to see the sunrise or close to it, and see the early morning clouds reflected in the dam. There are often kangaroos still up on the dam wall at that time, and the ducks are just waking up. It's a great start to the day and I think it's helping my energy levels and my anxiety overall. (I've had a few anxiety attacks this week and the walking definitely helps me keep things in perspective).

Millie woke up not long after I got back from my walk yesterday, and she sat on my lap while I checked email etc and she played on the iPad. Then we moved onto the couch together which was more comfortable. She was looking at something to do with the moon in one of her games and asked what it was called when it was a certain shape, so we looked up moon phases and chatted about how it changes, what it's called, why we can see what we can. The other two kids eventually wandered out, and we all curled up on the couch and watched 'The Princess and the Frog'. I was feeling very sleepy and dozed in the musical sequences, and managed to watch most of the rest of the movie. A very relaxing way to spend the morning.

Caitlin had commented that our little chick was getting 'so big' after she didn't see it for 3 days when she was away on horse camp. I thought she was imagining it - the chick still looked tiny. However when I went to check on the broody hens yesterday and discovered 2 more brand new chicks I could see what she means - the new chicks are TINY and the older one has grown quite a lot. I love how excited we all feel whenever new chicks are born, even though we've had it happen quite a number of times. They are so incredibly cute and tiny and we all love watching them. We really enjoy watching them grow up too, discovering what colouring they are going to have, and whether they are a hen or a rooster - Caitlin and I discovered yesterday that the 4 month old chick which we were sure was a hen is actually not - he was practising his crowing so looks like he was not the bird that laid the tiny egg we found the other day.

Being Friday, Tony was home around 2pm which is always lovely. He played Terraria with the kids for a while, then he and I played Donkey with Millie. Tony had a nap while I played Go Fish with Millie. I had a lie down myself (still feeling sleepy) and the kids played Test Match and did some drawing. Caitlin was very keen to go for a swim and it was quite a hot day so when I got up we rushed around and headed back down to Healesville outdoor pool. (At first I felt like it was too much effort, and felt that we'd planned to have a day at home so we should stick to that. Then I realised there was really no reason for us not to go, part of having a sparkly, joy filled life is to take opportunities when they come up, so it was ok to change our plans and do something that one of us really wanted to do. I'm so glad I chose the joyous option and not the default option.) Tony came with us too. Millie and I played around in the shallow end of the big pool, she practiced swimming out to me from the steps, and was also a dolphin who loved to eat catfish and I was the human supplying her with the catfish. The other 2 kids found some friends - two boys who had been in the Chicken Little play with Caitlin last October - and played with them and bit tyre tube up in the deep end. Tony and I each spent a bit of time with the big kids and a bit with Millie, then Millie put her backpack on and came up the deep end with all of us. We stayed until closing time (6pm) (we'd gone quite late), then bought pizza and went to the Train Park to eat it. It was a lot cooler by this stage and sitting outside felt lovely (apart from the wasp who wanted to share our dinner). After eating the kids and I walked the labyrinth, trying a few different techniques, then played Hide and Seek and then 40-40.

Back at home people played Terraria, I looked up some Terraria information for LiAM, Caitlin played minecraft and looked up dresses on the internet, Tony and I put away the camper trailer, we watched the cricket (quite exciting, Australia won in the last over) and the tennis then wound down and made our way to bed.

A busy impromptu day

Earlier in the month Caitlin started to take part in a summer library activity. There were activities to do each week and she could get her passport stamped at a library once she had completed each stage. We did the 'in library' stuff last week at Healesville, and she had some things to look up on their website at home, and some books to read, and the final stage was attending a Story Time activity - the closes one being in Healesville yesterday. We had planned to attend, then she was so tired on Wednesday night after 3 days at Horse Camp that I decided to see how things went on Thursday morning, rather than suggesting we go.

Millie was up early and we played on the computer for a while then played in the lounge room. When the others got up they put on Barbie Thumbelina as Caitlin hadn't seen it yet and it was due back at the library. Afterwards they went outside and played a spy catching game, and asked me to come and join them, so we all crept around the yard trying to catch each other, then sat in the shade of the camper trailer (set up so it can dry out from our camping trip - it's probably dry now!) and had a drink of cold water - it was a hot morning. Suddenly Caitlin remembered the Story Time and said she wanted to go. It was after 11.30 by now and the activity started at 11. She started to get upset, then I said we could still try to get there - so we rushed inside, she finished off the rest of the passport activities, we all got dressed, I threw the swimming bag in the car (just in case) and we made it to Healesville a bit after 12. There were a few library ladies there chatting, but the activity had obviously finished. I suggested she go and apologise for being late and see if she could still get her passport stamped. She wanted me to ask, so we all went over and explained that we hadn't made it in time but she'd still done the work. They were lovely and told us all about how the activity went, and said that unfortunately they'd already drawn the prizes - then they said that not all the prizes had been claimed, so we could have one, and they gave us 'The 13-story Treehouse' by Andy Griffiths. They took a photo of us as prize winners and everyone was very happy.

We drove back over to the shops, Caitlin reading the new book to everyone and causing lots of giggles (it's a funny story!), and got some hot chips. While we were waiting for them the kids started talking to a lady in the shop eating her own chips, and we ended up sitting and chatting with her until she left. She said several complimentary things about the kids which is always encouraging. From there we went to the library, the kids watched youtube videos, played Sonic Lightning on the PS3, and played with duple. I read my book and chatted with them about what they were doing.

We borrowed some books and DVDs then went over to Healesville Outdoor Pool (it's only open in the afternoon, only in the summer). The water was freezing as usual, a big contrast to the hot, muggy day. It was so much nicer swimming outside than an indoor pool, very glad we decided to go. We saw some friends there, 13yo twins from karate, and Caitlin & Liam played with them for the afternoon (LiAM is so confident in the deep end now, I am astonished at how quickly that happened). Millie and I had races in the kid's pool, played sharks and dolphins and humans and were in and out of the big pool with the other kids. We also sat and chatted to the twins and their dad for a while. Once Millie had had enough swimming we bought some snacks, she ate them and played on the grass and I read my book for a while, then we all headed home.

The kids had a play on the computer and outside and watched the tennis with Tony once we were home, and I went out again to an ABA Regional meeting. When I got back Tony was watching the Australia v China soccer match, and C and L were playing cards in the camper trailer where they were planning to sleep. Millie was already asleep there. The kids came in after a while, a bit spooked by what they think was a kangaroo close to the tent. They calmed down and went back out, then there was lightning and thunder and other noises so everyone decided to move back inside and sleep in their own bed (and Millie was moved as well)

Sleepovers, playing and numbers

On Monday the kids had 2 friends (brother and sister) come over for the day. They spent a lot of time playing Terraria, connected to the same world using 4 iPads/iPhones, all 5 kids curled up together on the same couch, Millie watching and commenting even though she didn't have a device to use to join the game. The sharing, negotiation and respect that was obvious in the constant chatter that accompanied the game was inspiring to listen to. In between playing Terraria they were outside eating ice-blocks and playing on the swings, listening to music, talking about all sorts of things, making up dances, checking on the new chick in our chicken pen, playing the pokemon trading card game, playing with lego and other toys around the house. Mid-afternoon we all headed in to Yarra Glen and went to the chemist and post office, then down to the library where they watched Minecraft videos on You Tube, played the piano in the hall, made up more dances. From there we went up to the friends' house and had a bit of a play, then S (the sister) came back with home with us for a sleepover, while LiAM stayed at their house for the night.

Back at home the girls made up more dances, and traded animal cards that they had gotten from Woolworths. After dinner on a rather hot day Tony and I took the 3 girls down to the dam for a swim. The water was a lovely temperature - a few cold patches if we went out a bit deeper, but lovely to get in to near the edge. Swimming in the dam at sunset is a glorious experience, the light and the view are amazing, it is peaceful and refreshing and I'm so happy that we have this experience available to us regularly. We even had ducks swimming towards us on the water, they didn't come all the way over to us, though it really did look like they were checking us out and coming as close as they felt safe. I was also impressed with Millie's swimming - last time I took her to the dam she stuck her toes in and then played on the dirt at the edge. Tony has taken her a few times, and she has obviously gained confidence. She asked me to carry her in, then took the kick board and lay on it and kicked around confidently and happily, even in the deeper water. At the end she did a little bit of swimming back and forth between Tony and I, she scared herself once by going under but then had another few goes. Back home (Caitlin and S and Tony rode their bikes) for a shower and to watch the cricket and then the Asia Cup summary then the girls went to bed on the sofa bed - and didn't stay up talking very late, I think they were both pretty tired!

Yesterday we watched a Barbie movie (Barbie as Rapunzel) and then Another Cinderella Story, which is my favourite of the many cinderella themed movies we have watched in the past several months. When it finished we watched it again. The girls and I continued playing the lego/skylander/toy animal game that has been going for about a week now. There was more playing on the swings and listening to music and dancing, including dancing with Dance Star on the Playstation. The boys returned here about 2.30 and the other kids stayed until about 5, lots more playing on the swings and playing Terraria and watching a few Minecraft videos.

Last night we kept playing the lego game and finally got Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare set up to work on the Playstation. I was surprised at how excited I was to actually get it working, and we all enjoyed watching LiAM play. It was interesting how we could all change allegiance so easily as he kept switching sides and the side he was on always seemed to be the 'best' side.

Millie and I had some great conversations about numbers and letters. When Plants v Zombies was installing she came and told me it was up to 79%. I said I wondered if it was up to 80% yet and she said 'or 81. or 82. or 83...' and continued until she said 'or eighty-ten' Then she laughed and said 'eighty ten isn't a real number'. I said 'What would eight-ten really be?' and she said '90'. Then she asked me to keep going with saying eighty-eleven, eighty-twelve and so on, and she told me the 'real' number (91, 92...). She went all the way up to eighty-twenty five (105). She spends a lot of time counting and adding and subtracting and is starting to be able to go up to the next decade after she reaches a number with 9 in it. She was playing Pixelmon on Minecraft in the morning and wanted to spawn a pokemon called Eevee.  She knows how to get up the command that brings in the new pokemon, and she had figured out herself that Eevee might be evve. I think that's her first attempt at writing a word on her own and it shows that she really does understand how letters work together to form words. Every day I'm amazed at the developing mathematical and literary skills of all 3 kids - it's so exciting to watch and be part of.

Easing into the New Year

Our pace of life has been delightfully slower since Christmas. Tony had almost 2 weeks off work (he went back on Monday this week) and it was lovely having him at home, having lazy days with no plans. We watched the cricket, played on iPads, played outside, listened to music, played board games, watched movies, chatted, read books, I pottered around and sorted some cupboards and tidied things up when I felt like it. Tony took the kids swimming and to a friend's house and he and Caitlin and LiAM went to the last day of the Melbourne Test Match (cricket). I only left the house once in the week after Christmas (I took LiAM and Millie to a friend's house, had a cup of tea, then Caitlin and I went for a swim and picked up our milk, then back to pick up the other kids, then I came home and had a lie down). I was SO tried after Christmas and it really took me a bit over a week of having no schedules before I started to feel OK again.

This week I'm feeling much better, and I've decided to go with the no schedule thing as much as possible. I've made vague plans with people for a few things, which will be confirmed on the day and no sooner. I don't want to push any of us more than we feel like being pushed. As it is we've had a busier week, which has been fun and manageable, with all our decisions about outings made on the day.

On Monday we went to Melbourne Zoo and met up with some other homeschoolers. I was reminded why I usually choose to avoid the zoo in school holidays - there were so many people there and we all felt overwhelmed. It was an enjoyable day though, especially for LiAM who met a couple of other boys his age and spent most of his time with them - great to meet another family who we click with. On Tuesday we went to a friend's house, lots of iPad, Playstation, jumping on the trampoline, make believe games, water play, while my friend and I caught up on lots of chatting and tea drinking. We've been to the library a couple of times this week - our closest branch had been closed over the holiday period and everyone enjoyed being back there, reading, borrowing new books and DVDs, using the internet (ours has been incredibly slow for the last couple of weeks as we used our allowance very quickly this month), and even catching up with friends. Yesterday we spent most of the day at home, watching movies, playing minecraft, playing with lego, reading books. When Tony got home from work we all went shopping and used some money we got for christmas to buy some chairs to take camping with us - we had a table to go with our camper trailer, but no chairs. I also did a grocery shop as we were rather low on a lot of items - now we have lots of food and I can make some things I had requests for during the week. Oh I did make a caramel slice yesterday which has been very popular! (Even without the chocolate icing. I only had dark chocolate and LiAM would prefer me to use milk chocolate, so we left the icing off and the slice is quite delicious as it is. It was funny too, when I gave LiAM the first piece, he said 'I don't like it as much' and put it down after 1 bite. My initial reaction (which I held back) was to feel frustrated as I had especially made the slice for LiAM. Then I thought 'I chose to make it for him, as a gift, that doesn't mean that he has to like it - someone else will eat it anyway'. Then I was glad I hadn't said anything because he clarified 'Oh it's really good, I just don't like it as much as the condensed milk by itself' (I had let him clean the tin with a spoon). And he loves the slice and ate several pieces throughout the day. It was a good reminder for me to take a moment to breathe before reacting, especially when I start to feel defensive,  and also not to have attachment to any expectations of how things will work out when I do something - that can simply create pressure on others and lead to tension. I'd prefer to have peace, which I can help to achieve by doing things because I want to do them, and not needing a positive response from others to make it worthwhile).

The weather has been quite warm this week (high 30s and up to 40 on some days) and a change came through last night. We are expecting a lot of rain over the next couple of days - will be great to see our lawn growing again and a bit of relief before more hot days I'm sure that will be coming.

On the hottest day (last Saturday), when the fire danger was extreme, none of us wanted to be at home (although home is slightly more bearable on hot days now thanks to a new blind outside our kitchen window, made by my good friend L), so we went to the movies. The boys wanted to see The Hobbit, while the girls were not keen, so Tony took LiAM to The Hobbit and I took the girls to see Annie - I was really impressed with it, enjoyed it a lot. Afterwards we met up, bought a hot chook and a tub of ice cream and went over to Ringwood Lake for a picnic tea and a play in the playground. A very pleasant way to spend a very hot day.

Swimming, Dancing and Friends

Yesterday morning we had no plans which was a relief after being up and out of the house by 9.30 on both mornings of the weekend. Life runs so much more smoothly in our house when we don't have morning appointments (and it was funny yesterday when we got to Yarra Glen Library at midday, and the guy said he was surprised to see us so early in the day - he's used to us turning up much later in the afternoon...).

The kids played a lot of Minecraft throughout the morning, and for a large part of it all 3 were connected to the same world. They also played with kinetic sand and LiAM created a great ocean scene with the blue sand and his animals.

LiAM and his ocean scene

I played with the sand a bit, caught up on a few things around the house, and dug some new channels in the driveway to try to prevent the water from the torrential downpour all ending up in our carport and at our front door.

Our day got busy from 12 onwards, but everyone was feeling pretty rested by then so getting out the door was pretty easy. We went to the library, and I downloaded the photos from last week's Children's Day so that the council can display them, and the kids looked at books and DVDs and watched minecraft videos. We then drove through more very heavy rain to Yarra Junction for a swim, and I discovered I still have quite a lot of visits left on my 20 visit family pass, so we might to try get there once or twice a week once all Caitlin's performances are over and we have a bit more spare time.

We all had a fun time in the pool. LiAM is now confident even in the deep end of the big pool, and Millie is dog paddling short distances, which are getting longer each time we visit. She's comfortable with putting her head under the water and much more independent now. Caitlin tried a new technique for diving in and nearly nailed it.

On the way home we picked up our raw milk from the dairy, then came home and had an early snack/dinner (although I forgot to eat, just fed the kids) before I did Caitlin's hair and makeup for her dance school photos. The others watched Bambi 2 while they ate - Millie has been wanting to watch it ever since she discovered it existed, and I put it on hold at the library and on our Quickflix queue - and it arrived from both places yesterday, so we currently have 2 copies in the house!

I thought I was going to be able to calmly do Caitlin's makeup this year but I did get a bit stressed and cranky - I think my fear of getting into trouble kicks in and I want it to be perfect so that her dance teacher doesn't yell at me. Which is not even what would happen if I got it wrong, she would yell at Caitlin which would be even worse... Although C is not worried about it all and is happy for me to just do the best job I can and not worry about perfection. So once we'd worked through that little conflict the makeup and hair worked out quite well - both LiAM and Millie said she looked really pretty, and I think I did a better job than last year, it seemed to suit her better this year.

So back to Yarra Glen for photos, the other two sat out the back of the hall and played with iPad/iPod, while I helped Caitlin in and out of her costumes for her photo shoot. S & V came down to the park while we were there, so the others went out to play with them and a couple of other kids, and C and I joined them once we were done. We stayed at the park for nearly an hour, then all went back to S & V's house for another hour or so - everyone was playing well together and I enjoyed the chance to sit and chat to R & P and have a couple of cups of tea (and something to eat).

We got home around 9.30, just before Tony arrived home from baseball, and played a few iPad/iPod games, Caitlin had a shower and washed all her makeup and hair product out, and everyone went to bed fairly easily.

Happy

Life is good at the moment.

I've been feeling that for a couple of weeks now, as an undercurrent to everything else is going on and it's a great feeling. There are moments where I just feel completely happy and content with the way our life is going, and that feeling is staying as a base of happiness even when other stuff is going wrong in the moment (which makes it easier to recover from the lower moments).

I think I've managed to get back to a place where I am living true to my principles and beliefs and making positive choices, so that even when things aren't perfect I can accept that and keep making choices that head us in the direction we want to go, and life still feels good.

I've also started doing karate with the kids on on a Thursday night - and I LOVE it. I spend the whole 75 minutes just feeling so happy and excited to be there. It's not as hard as I thought it would be and I'm learning more and more each week - it's something I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember, but I thought I wouldn't be coordinated enough or be able to remember all the moves or it wasn't a suitable activity for a someone like me (what would people think?!).... lots and lots of excuses have helped me put it off over the years, and I'm so glad that I was able to push through all of that and give it a go. And apart from the self-esteem boost of being able to do it and the joy of doing something really fun, the physical exercise part is feeling physically amazing. I'm pleased too that all the yoga I've done over the past several years has helped with flexibility and fitness so some of the moves and stances are quite easy for my body rather than being brand new.

Caitlin is attending Victorian Youth Theatre classes on a Friday night - out of all the activities she's tried, this one feels like absolutely the right fit. She does 2 consecutive classes so she's there for 3 hours. The venue is in Croydon, about half an hours drive from here, so I usually drop her off and then go and do something by myself for the time she's there - a few times now I have gone swimming at Croydon Leisure Centre - it's been amazing to be back in the water swimming laps. The first week I did 10 (25m) laps and nearly fell over when I stopped, the second week I was able to do 20..... I love how quickly my body can fall back into swimming even after a long break. If I can do laps every couple of weeks or even a few times a term I think my physical and mental wellbeing will be boosted immensely. After swimming I normally do some grocery shopping - I like that there's kind of an allocated time now for me to get that done (and I have a choice of supermarkets in the area so I can vary where I go like I always have) rather than trying to fit it in around all our other activities.

We now have very few daytime commitments which I like, and hardly anything in the mornings, so we can have our slow, easy mornings at home and then head out in the afternoons if necessary. Caitlin has dancing on Monday evenings, the girls have Guides on Wednesday afternoons (Millie goes sometimes, when she feels willing to tie her hair back and wear shoes, and especially if they are doing something exciting like roasting marshmallows), Caitlin, Liam and I have karate on Thursday evenings, Caitlin has school on Friday and the rest of us go to L's house for her kids and mine to play all day (and for she and I to chat, or go out without kids if we have something on), and then Caitlin's Youth Theatre on Friday evening. We also have Homeschool Group in Yarra Glen fortnightly on a Thursday afternoon, and a couple of other monthly homeschool things that we sometimes go to. We do Toy Library duty a few times a term. Oh and while the girls (or just Caitlin) are at Guides, the rest of us go to the library and park in Yarra Glen. So I feel like we've got a lot on but it's at a manageable level and mainly at times that work for our family. The evening stuff is great because (except during vintage) whoever doesn't want to come along can stay at home with one parent.

I feel like I'm doing a much better job of meeting the kids where they are at and focussing on what they want to do at a particular time, offering more opportunities for fun activities at home and stopping whatever I'm doing when they ask me to come and play with them. I guess I'm feeling more focussed and determined to stay true to my priorities - the relationship with my kids and Tony being number one, and providing enriching, interesting and relevant learning opportunities for us all is next.

This last week we've all been quite sick, with a fluey/chest infection type thing. It's been pretty nasty, and everyone has had it (LiAM was last to come down with it, yesterday afternoon). There's been plenty of moments where I have felt exhausted and anxious and quite low - but when I think about it, I know that this is just passing, and underneath I have still felt happy and content with our current life.